In case you missed it, the weekend just passed (as of this writing) saw four really good NFL playoff football games. Some are saying the Kansas City / Buffalo game featured the best final two minutes of any game in a long, LONG time. Here at the offices of the ShaqFu Radio blog, we’re bummed out over the loss by Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers… But the playoff action continues, and we’re looking forward to more great football.
The weekend previous, one of the fun games (well, not for Dallas), was the win by the San Francisco 49ers over those Cowboys. Did you see it? Quarterback Dak Prescott led the Dallas Cowboys to a slow start during the game, and by the end of the contest, the results of the game boiled down to a lost opportunity to advance just a few yards… And that cost the ‘Boys the whole season.
If you didn’t know, our man Shaq is a die-hard Cowboys fan, and this final loss of the season had him up in arms and in voice as well. He used that big voice to speak of his displeasure with the Cowboys on a recent edition of his “Big Podcast with Shaq.”
Part of O’Neal’s beef with the way the game went was over the officiating of the game. There were a few awkward moments in the final seconds of the game that may have led to the Cowboys loss…but Shaq also had plenty to say about how Prescott handled the final few plays.
If you saw the game, you saw how the refs had to handle the ball and get it lined up properly before the next snap. O’Neal didn’t come right out to say that move cost the Cowboys the game – after all, it seemed the refs were just following proper procedures.
So while the refs took a hit, so did QB Dak Prescott and head coach Mike McCarthy. At one point, the Cowboys trailed the Niners by 23-7, and they struggled to get back in the game, yet still had an opportunity in the final seconds.
On The Big Podcast, host Nischelle Turner said, “There are fingers being pointed in the direction of Mike McCarthy because there’s a lot of people saying ‘he’s not the coach you need, he’s not the coach that’s gonna get you where you need to be.’ Let me just say this, I was watching him during the game, and this is what I saw. Arms folded just standing there. He doesn’t call plays.”
As for Shaq, he would have none of it. “First of all, stop it, stop it,” he interrupted. “I learned from the great Phil Jackson, ‘you gotta get it done.‘” Shaq talked about how his former Lakers coach would say it’s not the coach’s job to make the plays; it’s the players’ job.
Shaq: “The coach is just there to prepare you … to let you know what the other team’s gonna do. But you as an individual gotta go out and play. If you need another man to motivate you at home, your a*s ain’t ready anyway.”
True enough, right? If it takes some kind of magical words from a coach to get you up for the game, or to get your head straight, there’s probably something you need to work on for yourself. And that goes for the game of football, and for life, for the rest of us!